View photosKEY POINTS:
Police should have acted with more urgency to serve arrest warrants on paroled convicted murderer Graeme Burton, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found.
However, Authority head Justice Lowell Goddard today said it would be conjecture to assume the police beginning to hunt for Burton sooner would have
prevented the crime spree which ended with Burton murdering Wainuiomata father of two Karl Kuchenbecker on January 6, 2007.
" I have to emphasise we cannot speculate about what might have happened had police stepped up their efforts sooner. It cannot be said that a different response from police would have resulted in Burton being found and being apprehended earlier," Justice Godddard said.
The report said once police did act on the arrest warrant for Burton, their response was swift and appropriate. There was no criticism of the two officers who came face to face with Burton on January 6 - an encounter which ended with Burton being shot and severely wounded.
Burton's life was possibly saved by the care he received from medical officers, the report said. His wounds resulted in his right leg being amputated.
The report said it was correct procedure for the two officers involved with the shooting to have been armed, and praised their bravery in confronting the heavily-armed Burton.
"We are making some criticisms of police in this report, but it is important to remember that Graham Burton is the real culprit here," Justice Goddard said.
The report found police were too reluctant to put information they had about Burton's illegal activities - including claims he had committed a series of armed assaults on Wellington drug dealers - into an affidavit to assist with an early recall to prison.
They also failed to note two arrest warrants for Burton until more than a week after the first had been issued.
The report said the Probation Service asked for an affidavit on Burton's suspected activities on November 30, but police declined, fearing it would reveal the identities of their informants.
The report said police could have given an affidavit based on partial information that did not reveal the identity of their sources.
Police began an official investigation into Burton on November 28, a day after the Parole Board told them they would immediately recall Burton to prison if fresh charges were laid against him.
However, the report said crucial errors were made.
It found police failed to up the ante on Burton when an arrest warrant was issued by the courts, on December 22, due to Corrections Department legal action over his parole breaches.
A missed phone message meant police were not aware of it until after a second warrant was issued by the courts on December 29 - effectively recalling Burton to prison - which was faxed to Wellington central police station.
Even then, police took three days to properly action the warrant.
The report said there were inadequate lines of communication between the Probation Service, the Parole Board and police, but that police should have been aware of the developments anyway if they were paying proper attention to the case.
"It would appear that although some police members knew that a warrant had been issued as early as December 22 and there was an operation in place to locate Burton, no one took an active interest in or ownership of the situation, which then resulted in an unreasonable delay."
The report also faulted the Parole Board notification to police on December 29, saying it lacked a clear indication of the urgency of the situation.
The report recommends:
* Police review their management and handling of arrest warrants to avoid delays apprehending high risk offenders;
* that police and the Corrections Department, which incorporates the Probation Service, review how they collaboratively handle high risk offenders;
* police ensure that all staff are aware of their powers to arrest some parolees without a warrant;
* police and Corrections review how they handle sensitive information like that the Corrections Department wanted police to put in an affidavit.
The report also looked at how police dealt with Burton on the day he was arrested.
That section of the report found police acted entirely properly in shooting Burton after he confronted police sent to arrest him.
The report details how the first pair of police on the scene after the reported shootings in firebreaks between Lower Hutt and Wainuiomata, called for a cordon to be set up around entry and exit points.
However they were then confronted by a shotgun-wielding Burton as they sought to get out rifles from the boot of their police car.
They initially backed off.
When they returned Burton was taking the police rifles out of the boot of the police car.
When they called out "armed police" Burton looked up and pointed a weapon at one of the officers.
An officer fired at Burton three times, incapacitating him with a shot to the leg.
Burton has since been sentenced to preventive detention for the murder of Mr Kuchenbecker.
- with NZPA
